Our reader poll today asks: How strong are your team’s problem-solving skills?
Extremely: they can crack any problem they face 24.62%
Very: they can solve all but the most difficult problems 32.83%
Somewhat: they can solve easy problems but struggle beyond that 18.71%
Not very: they require a lot of help solving problems 15.38%
Not at all: I end up solving all the problems 8.46%
Building Problem Solving Skills. A whopping 43% of you report your team members need to improve their problem-solving skills. That’s a scary number. It’s probably driven by one of three things – they don’t have the skills to do it, they’re letting you do the problem solving for them, or they don’t feel empowered to solve problems on their own. If they lack the skills, explore ways to build those problem-solving muscles like training or mentoring. If you’re solving things for them, step back and ask them “what do you think we should do?” instead of immediately giving answers when they ask for help. If they don’t feel empowered, set guardrails for what kinds of problems they have the authority to solve then get out of their way. If you’re the one managing the problem-solving process all the time, they’ll never build the skills to do it on their own.
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Go one step further after finding an answer to your problem. You may unlock some great opportunities you never would have considered before.
When you’re trying to solve a problem, getting an answer isn’t good enough. Think critically about the results of your analysis and what’s coming back as far as your recommendations go. You should be looking for similarities or differences between the idea and the analytical answers that come out and other situations that you’ve been in. Are there common themes that you’re seeing across multiple problems that you’re trying to solve? Are some elements similar to other problems you’ve solved in the past?
You should be asking about the relative size of the recommendation. Once you’ve completed your analysis, does this even matter? If we solve this problem, will it have a big enough impact on the business for us to even care? And if not, even though it’s a great idea, we should push it off to the side and focus on things that are more meaningful.
You should also explore connections to other problems that you’ve had or other situations you’ve been in because that connection between two things that are seemingly unrelated may unlock a tremendous insight and give you an opportunity to take learnings from the past and apply them to a situation that seems very different, but is actually quite similar. Let me offer an example. At one point, I did some corporate strategy work and we were trying to figure out where we should take the business for the next 10 years. We were looking at things like, “What new products should we launch? What new businesses should we enter? Which new market segments should we pursue? Are there acquisitions we should be going after?” And what we were able to do through all of that analysis was come up with not just an answer to how we decided to prioritize our efforts, but we also generated a process for thinking about how we were going to prioritize our resources and how we were going to think about entering markets, launching products, conducting acquisitions.
Now, several years later, I was working with a technology team and that technology team had the challenge of a lot of projects that were all really great, but they didn’t have the time or the resources to pursue all of them. And when we dug into the problem, when we did the analysis and we found out they had 37 different projects that were rated high, and 54 that were medium, and 200 enhancements that they were supposed to be doing. And when we really understood that the analysis was telling us that we weren’t good at prioritizing, a little light bulb went off and said, “Wait, this is a prioritization problem. That strategy work I did in the past was also about prioritization of scarce resources. Are there things that these problems have in common that I can take from the strategy work and apply to the technology prioritization?” And what was great was I was able to just dust off my strategy process, think about how it could apply to the technology portfolio, and then we not only prioritized the portfolio, but we put a new process in place to prioritize future projects. By understanding the linkages between seemingly unrelated problems, we were able to come up with a solution that we were able to apply very quickly based upon those past learnings.
So when you look at your answers that are coming out of your problem solving processes, think critically about those answers. What connections can you make to other situations? What can you learn from other problems you’ve solved and how can you apply those learnings to the problem you’re trying to solve now? By thinking critically, you may unlock some great opportunities you never would have considered before. That extra time to go one more step beyond the easy answer the analysis gives you and ask what does this mean for the broader problem may help you create one of the best opportunities out there that you get to very efficiently and very effectively.
Want to learn more about critical thinking? How about taking an entire course on it? Go directly to the course and start learning how to think critically. The entire course is available at LinkedIn Learning. Enjoy!
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Reaching outside your comfort zone is critical for success in business and in life. If you want to be successful, follow these three tips.
Today’s post is by Andy Molinsky, author of Reach.
If you play tennis, you’re probably familiar with the concept of a “second serve.” In tennis, you have two chances to serve the ball, so on the first you can really put everything into it, with little risk since you always have that second one to fall back on. The key is how you approach the second one.
When I was much younger, I learned that it was OK – critical even – to learn how to hit a powerful second serve – something that would be nearly as effective as the first – with lots of spin to it. But that took time and effort and many, many failed attempts – even in game-time situations.
The easy solution in the moment would have been to tap that second serve right in – risking little, but also not developing for the future. But I’m very glad I got the advice I did to risk it early on, and learn from experience and failure, because now I actually have a second serve I can use effectively – something that’s actually an asset –a weapon – and something I can use in real game time situations.
And, as I’ve learned from my own experience, as well as from the experiences interviewing managers, executives, and entrepreneurs for my book Reach, having the courage to take a leap is just as important in business as it is on the tennis court.
So, what are the best practices for willing yourself to take that leap and do something you know will help you in the long run, but which feels risky, awkward, or uncomfortable in the short term?
https://i0.wp.com/www.thoughtleadersllc.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/20250512-Tennis-Serve.jpg?fit=1920%2C1280&ssl=112801920Trevor Joneshttps://www.thoughtleadersllc.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/logo.pngTrevor Jones2025-05-12 08:02:582025-05-12 01:59:21Successful Leaders Do These 3 Things to Reach Outside Their Comfort Zones
Our reader poll today asks: How fearful are you of losing your high-performers to other companies?
Extremely – their departure would be devastating 9.28%
Very – I’d hate to lose them and it would be hard to replace them 51.00%
Somewhat – it would hurt but I can backfill for them 27.15%
Not very – they’re all going to leave at some point anyway 7.28%
Not at all – I have a lot of talent waiting to step into their role 5.29%
Build Your Bench. 87% of you have significant fears of losing your high performers to other organizations. You can try to keep them but no matter what, you’re going to lose some of them. You can’t control that. What you can control is making sure your other team members are ready to step into the vacancy. Send them to training. Give them stretch assignments. Put them on projects that will challenge them and help them build both abilities and confidence. Sure, these actions have a cost and you have to take some risk that things won’t go perfectly. The benefit is you’re building a bench of talent that will be better prepared to step into the inevitable vacancies created when your high performers leave.
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If you’re mindful about the way you spend your time when you’re doing analysis, you’re going to be able to solve more problems more effectively and more efficiently.
Critical thinking doesn’t just apply to the analysis you do, it applies to the way you do analysis. Choosing which analysis to do and how to handle the results that come out. I encourage people to take the high road and the low road when they’re thinking about analysis:
The High Road
On the high road, always step up to the high level problem that you’re trying to solve and ask, “How does the analysis I’m doing tied to that problem? What am I proving or disproving with the data that I’m analyzing?” Estimate the benefit of even doing the analysis before you start pulling data. Is it going to be beneficial? Will this analysis help me answer the ultimate question that I’m trying to solve? Use the 80/20 principle and back of the envelope types of calculations to ask, “Will these numbers have any impact?” If they will, continue with the analysis. If they won’t, don’t do the analysis. You don’t have the time. And once you’ve completed the analysis, stay on that high road, test your thinking, and ask, “Does this answer I got from my analysis tie to the recommendation that I’m trying to make? Does it support or does it refute the recommendation I’m making?”
The Low Road
When you think about the low road, which is the deep analysis you’re going to do, you should still be thoughtful about how you approach it. First, only run the numbers you need to run. If you think about your scoped problem statement, and you’re only going to focus on two business units, and that’s what you’ve said is in scope for your solution. You should only be running analysis related to those two business units. If you find yourself pulling data for five or six different business units, you’re wasting your time.
Also, don’t stay in the data too long. It’s very easy to lose an entire day or an entire week doing analysis. We can analyze data for extensive amounts of time. And when you do that, you may be wasting effort. I always tell people when they’re doing deep analysis, don’t polish dirt. And what I mean by that is, when you’re in there doing rough analysis and you’re not sure what the answers ultimately going to be, but you’re trying to figure out, is it hundreds, thousands, or millions? Once you figure out that it’s thousands, you don’t need to take it out several decimal points. You know it’s 5,000 to 7,000, move on with life. You shouldn’t get that refined answer if that refinement isn’t going to add value. Focus your attention on the answers that matter. That analytical time is precious. It chews up a lot of your time and a lot of your team’s time. So get back up to that high road regularly and ask the implications of your analysis.
These critical thought processes should help you question everything you do in terms of solving problems. From defining the problem, to generating recommendations, to doing your analysis, to figuring out if you’ve actually solved the problem. And if you’re more mindful about the way you spend your time when you’re doing analysis, you’re going to be able to solve more problems more effectively and more efficiently.
Want to learn more about critical thinking? How about taking an entire course on it? Go directly to the course and start learning how to think critically. The entire course is available at LinkedIn Learning. Enjoy!
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In an age of too many options, four simple questions can provide a clear approach to making those frequent decisions in a way that saves us time.
Today’s post is by Jack Quarles, author of Expensive Sentences
We live in a time of unprecedented options. Those of us in developed economies of the 21st century, even with average incomes, have more choices than ever before in what we eat, what we wear, our jobs, where we live or travel, our entertainment and education… and the list goes on.
Our ability to customize the details of our lives is dazzling, but it is not free. Abundant options require abundant decisions, and decisions require energy. Life’s never-ending buffet brings byproducts: too many options can paralyze us, and fear of taking the wrong option can haunt us.
We can benefit from thinking about how we make decisions, and intentionally adopting practices that help us manage the cost of decision-making and feel more confident in the choices we do make.
Let’s examine a class of decision that we face every day: stay or go, fish or cut bait, keep on the same path or change direction. More specifically, we’ll consider people and companies we pay, whether at work or at home:
Do I like my accountant, or is it time to switch? Should I change gyms? Do we need a new marketing consultant? Is our lawn care guy charging us too much?
There are both cost and benefit components to these questions. If your gym is nearby and your friends go there, it may be worth twice the price of a different gym with the same equipment because you’re more likely to go and use it. That’s an easy case. Other decisions aren’t so easy, and sometimes those questions of “Am I paying too much for this?” keep lingering in our mind without a clear answer.
https://i0.wp.com/www.thoughtleadersllc.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/20250504-Sign-with-Number-4.jpg?fit=1920%2C1440&ssl=114401920Trevor Joneshttps://www.thoughtleadersllc.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/logo.pngTrevor Jones2025-05-05 08:02:302025-05-04 22:22:084 Questions to Make Difficult Switching Decisions Much Easier
Our reader poll today asks: How do you handle “gatekeepers” at work?
I work directly with them to persuade them to “open the gate” 59.68%
I find other ways to get the information I need 25.81%
I work around them to force them to work with me 9.68%
I give up when they provide too much resistance 4.83%
Collaborate with the Gatekeepers. Information is power and some people can tend to hoard it. Whether it’s someone who “owns” certain data or someone who manages a senior executive’s calendar, these people can stymie your efforts to get information or access you need. That said, going around them can create more problems than you expect. If they’re cut out of a process or conversation, they may feel threatened or disrespected and could seek to make future requests of yours impossible to fulfill. Seek to form a relationship outside of asking them for things. When you go to them with a request and only speak to them then, it can feel transactional and impersonal. If you build real relationships with them when you don’t need anything and you do so sheerly for the purpose of building a relationship, it can make getting future requests fulfilled a lot easier.
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Using the 80/20 rule can help you spend your time and energy more efficiently.
Critical thinking doesn’t only apply to coming up with recommendations. You need to think critically about the way you’re going to spend your time and energy. Those things are limited. You have too many problems to solve and not enough time.
I encourage people to follow the 80/20 rule, also known as the Pareto principle. The Pareto principle was coined by Vilfredo Pareto, and he noticed in Italy, 80% of the land was owned by 20% of the population. He was also a gardener, and he noticed 80% of the peas coming out of his garden came from 20% of the pods. And he said, “That’s interesting. Two totally different realms demonstrating the same principle.” 20% led to 80% of the impact, and that’s the 80 20 rule. 20% of the drivers will drive 80% of the results. You need to think about your work the same way. You can’t focus on that 80% that only drives 20% of the results. Focus your efforts on the meaningful.
Let me offer an example. I have a client that creates capital equipment. They’re a manufacturer, and they were having a whole bunch of service issues in the field. Customers were calling up with a variety of complaints. And at first, this client was going out and trying to solve every single issue out there. But then they said, “Wait. Maybe there are certain issues that are causing more of our problems than others, and we only have limited resources that we can spend going out and fixing these issues, so let’s do an analysis.” And when they conducted that analysis, they found out that of all the service issues they had had reported, two issues were driving 80% of the complaints. One was about their software crashing and one was about the motors breaking down. What this client was then able to do was take all of their resources, focus them on these two issues, and solving those two issues would solve upwards of 80% of the complaints from their customers. That’s not to say the other complaints weren’t as important, but in terms of focusing their resources, they thought critically about what the problem is and where they were going to spend their time.
This has implications for you. When you think about a problem that you’re trying to solve, think through, “What are the major drivers of impact?” If you’re running a business unit at a high level and you’re trying to grow your profits, you can either look at revenues or costs. In revenues, you can look at volume or price. In volume, you can look at current customers and prospective customers. And within those, you can look at geographic regions. And let’s say we said, “Hey, this is going to be a revenue issue. You can’t look at the entire country.” What you’re probably going to want to do is focus on those couple of geographic regions that can drive the most impact for the metric you’re trying to increase.
So, look at whatever problem you’re trying to solve, understand what the drivers are, and understand how much each driver contributes to the overall impact you’re trying to have. Spend your time solving for those issues, the ones that have a disproportionate impact on the metric you’re trying to move. It’ll be a much more efficient use of your time, and you’re going to solve the biggest problems your organization faces first.
Want to learn more about critical thinking? How about taking an entire course on it? Go directly to the course and start learning how to think critically. The entire course is available at LinkedIn Learning. Enjoy!
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Smart leaders fail when they chase symptoms, not root causes. Discover how awareness helps teams solve real problems and boost performance.
Today’s guest post is by Sean Glaze, author of What Effective Leaders DO.
Even the most intelligent and well-intentioned leaders can get stuck.
They work hard. They respond quickly. They troubleshoot constantly. But despite their effort, their teams still underperform, communication breaks down, and morale dips.
And here’s why…
They’re solving the wrong problems.
In What Effective Leaders DO, a leadership parable I wrote to help managers like Jenn discover the practical habits that lead to real team progress, one lesson stands out as a powerful early turning point in her story:
The most destructive issue on your team is the one that you haven’t addressed.
But most leaders never realize what that issue is—because they haven’t learned the critical leadership skill of awareness.
The Hidden Trap of Symptom-Chasing
You’re familiar with it.
A teammate misses a meeting. Project deadlines slip. Communication is tense. People seem checked out. So you respond by applying pressure, adding another meeting, revisiting policies, or sending a reminder email.
But here’s the problem: those are symptoms, not root causes.
Like Jenn in the book, many leaders react to surface-level issues without understanding the real leak underneath.
In her case, a literal leak—the busted water line behind her refrigerator—was flooding her home. But it wasn’t until Tony, the plumber (and unexpected leadership mentor), pointed out the deeper issue that the real solution became clear.
This is the exact same mistake many managers make every day:
They mistake evidence of a problem for the actual problem.
And when you chase symptoms, you waste time, exhaust yourself, and frustrate your team—without ever truly fixing anything.
Why Awareness Is a Superpower
Awareness is not a buzzword. It’s a skill. And it’s the foundation of every other leadership strength.
It’s what helps you see beyond the noise and notice the patterns, behaviors, or beliefs that are actually driving your team’s challenges.
Awareness is what turns frustration into focus. Awareness is what transforms effort into impact. Awareness is what separates leaders who react from those who resolve.
But here’s the truth that many don’t want to admit:
Experience alone doesn’t make you effective. Awareness does.
You can lead for years without ever growing if you’re not reflecting on what’s really happening—or why.
Which brings us to one of the most useful tools I’ve ever seen to help leaders shift their perspective and elevate their impact to build a more productive workplace…
The Ladder of Awareness: A Tool for Smarter Leadership
Tony, Jenn’s unexpected mentor in What Effective Leaders DO, introduces a deceptively simple visual that reshapes how leaders understand—and solve—problems:
The Ladder of Awareness
It has four levels:
1. Unaware
You don’t know there’s a problem yet. Everything seems fine—until it’s not.
2. Symptom Aware
You notice the effects: missed deadlines, conflict, turnover, disengagement. But you don’t know what’s behind them.
3. Problem Aware
You dig deeper. You uncover the root cause—lack of clarity, poor communication norms, unspoken expectations, fear of conflict, or something else.
4. Solution Aware
Now you can act intentionally. You focus your time and energy on solutions that fix the right things.
Jenn’s water leak wasn’t fixed by replacing carpet or mopping the floor.
It was solved by discovering the kinked copper pipe that had been damaged when someone unknowingly shoved the fridge too far back.
Likewise, the “leaks” in your team—missed handoffs, low engagement, high turnover—won’t get better with surface fixes.
They’ll only improve when you identify the actual source of the issue.
And to do that, you have to climb the ladder.
From Frustrated to Focused: Applying This in Daily Interactions
So how do you take this concept from theory to practice?
Here are five ways to use the Ladder of Awareness to build a sticky culture today:
1. Get Curious Before Getting Critical
When something goes wrong, ask:
“What might be causing this that I haven’t noticed yet?”
Resist the urge to blame. Instead, look deeper. Every behavior has a backstory.
2. Make Time for Observation
Effective leaders don’t just respond—they notice.
Schedule time to reflect. Observe interactions. Listen to what isn’t being said.
3. Look for Patterns, Not Just Incidents
Is this a one-time issue or part of a larger pattern?
If three team members seem unmotivated, the problem likely isn’t them. It’s something in the environment or leadership approach.
4. Ask Questions That Reveal, Not Just Repair
Instead of “Why are you late again?” ask:
“What’s getting in the way of being fully present or on time right now?”
Awareness comes from inquiry, not accusation.
5. Revisit the Ladder Weekly
Pick one frustrating issue. Walk it up the ladder:
Are you just seeing the symptom?
Have you named the real problem?
Is your solution targeting the root or just the residue?
It’s a simple but transformative shift that creates real progress.
Want Better Results? Build Better Awareness
Jenn’s journey in What Effective Leaders DO starts with frustration—but evolves into clarity, confidence, and influence.
Yours can too.
But it begins with admitting that what you’re seeing may not be the real issue. That you might be solving leaks with towels instead of turning off the water.
When you become more aware, you become more effective.
Sean Glaze is a sought-after leadership and workplace culture speaker, who gained valuable insights on turning talent into teamwork as a successful basketball coach – and now he travels around the country to share those actionable lessons. Sean’s engaging conference leadership keynotes and custom team building programs have helped clients like Cisco, John Deere, the CDC, and Emory University to increase collaboration, boost productivity, and build Sticky Cultures that inspire more profitable teamwork. Sean’s books, Rapid Teamwork, What Effective Leaders DO, The 10 Commandments of Winning Teammates, and Staying Coachable are entertaining parables that accelerate the growth of leaders and teams!
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Our reader poll today asks: How do you manage allocating new work to your team members?
I allocate work fairly and evenly 38.16%
I allocate more work to higher performers 29.61%
I let team members volunteer for work 11.19%
I give new work to whomever is available at that moment 14.47%
I rely way too heavily on high performers 6.57%
Don’t Burn Out High Performers. Almost 50% of you report putting a lot of emphasis on giving work to your high performers. 36% report relying on those team members a lot and another 11% give the work to those who volunteer (who, most of the time, are likely your high performers). This overreliance on high performers can prove harmful. They could get burned out, overcommit and not perform well, or end up denying opportunities for other team members to develop because all the good projects are given to high performers. If you struggle with allocating work fairly, keep a tracking list. Make note of who received the last project and track who’s the next person in line to receive such work. Being rigorous about spreading work out can prevent burnout and will create more opportunities for other team members.
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Our reader poll today asks: What is your reaction to a team member asking you for a raise?
I’m happy to discuss it and am impressed by their self-advocacy 85.17%
I don’t like it at all. I’ll let them know when they’re due a raise 14.83%
Listening to your team members’ needs. While the vast majority of you say you’re welcoming of team members asking for a raise, for the 15% of you who are against it, ask yourself why. If someone feels strongly enough to do something intimidating like asking for a raise, you at least owe them the courtesy of listening to their case. They may bring up accomplishments or responsibilities you’re unaware of or have forgotten that would merit a raise. Or it might be an indicator they’re dissatisfied in their role and they’re looking for a new job somewhere else that pays more. Just because they ask, it doesn’t mean you have to say yes. If you’re saying no, it’s a good time to have a performance expectations discussion or perhaps better explain the compensation model at your company which they might not understand. If you’re not willing to have these conversations, there are 85% of your peers who are and you could be spending more time recruiting and interviewing than you’d like.
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A great tool for thinking through the consequences of an action is the Seven So-Whats.
Good critical thinking processes don’t just look at causes, they look at consequences as well. A great tool for thinking through the consequences of an action is the Seven So-Whats. The Seven So-Whats force you to go from an early answer to think through all the possible implications and future consequences of your action.
Let me offer an example. Let’s say we have a situation where we’re going to change our incentive and bonus plan. And we say, “That’s the recommendation.”
Okay, so what? If we change that, what happens? So what?
Well, if we need to change it, we don’t know how. I mean, if we knew how, we would have already changed it.
Okay, so what? If we don’t know how, what’s the implication of that?
Well, we need to find someone who does know how to do it.
Okay, so what? What are the implications of that?
Well, that means I need to start a search for a vice president of compensation.
Okay, so if we start that search, so what? What’s the implication of that?
Well, I need to deprioritize other searches for other roles so that I can focus on getting this person in.
Okay, well, so what? What happens if we deprioritize those other recruiting efforts?
Well, that means I’m going to have to reduce my search for somebody in supply chain and focus on this VP of compensation.
Okay, well, so what?
Well, that means I probably need to change my supply-chain goals for the year.
This all started with our business plan is broken, or our incentive model is broken. And now, we’re looking at goals for supply chain. If we didn’t think this through, we may have caused huge problems for the organization by making that one change to the incentive plan without thinking through the consequences.
When you’re looking at making a recommendation, ask yourself, “So what?” And ask seven times. And the lens you should have on that is what is the consequence of this action? What’s going to happen to our business? What will happen in the marketplace? What will happen with our associates? What are the reactions we’re going to see? And if that reaction happens, so what? What happens next? By thinking forward, by thinking about consequences, what you’re going to do is be able to see new opportunities as well as avoid problems you might unknowingly cause.
Take a look at a recommendation you’re working on right now. Do you know the consequences? Do you know the real downstream impacts of the change that you’re proposing? Have you stopped and thought critically about the implications of your recommendation? Invest that time because it’s going to help you avoid future problems that were caused by the recommendation you made.
Want to learn more about critical thinking? How about taking an entire course on it? Go directly to the course and start learning how to think critically. The entire course is available at LinkedIn Learning. Enjoy!
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https://i0.wp.com/www.thoughtleadersllc.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/20250416-Number-Seven.jpg?fit=1920%2C1097&ssl=110971920Trevor Joneshttps://www.thoughtleadersllc.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/logo.pngTrevor Jones2025-04-16 06:30:032025-04-16 01:49:03Answer the Seven So-Whats?
